When Sarika Patel married her Bukusu darling Timothy Khamala she may have read the words of William Penn that, in marriage do thou be wise: prefer the person before money, virtue before beauty, the mind before the body; then thou hast a wife, a friend, a companion, a second self. However, the words to Sarika have become mortal and the two lovebirds are no more.
Sarika comes from a wealthy Indian family while Khamala is just a commoner. The two met when Khamala was working as a casual labourer in Sarika’s family business and fell in love, despite Sarika’s family and the entire Indian community staging a backlash on her. She had defied parents, strict traditions and even social class for love found in a Bukusu man, causing a stir across the country with their story appearing on YouTube’s Top 10 videos of 2014.
Wife battering
Sarika blames Khamala for the divorce after she was quoted in The Nairobian saying, “When I fell sick, he did not bother to take me to hospital instead his parents took me to the local hospital. Besides, he has been abusing me physically.”
The fairy tale of a love born and bred in Webuye came tumbling down, with Khamala going back to her parents who have given her conditions before she can move in. “My father has told me to stay with a family friend before I make up my mind,” she said. “I hope they will forgive me and take me back. I wish I knew.”
